Another Black Trans Woman Killed In Florida

It is my sad duty to inform you once again that another Black trans woman has been murdered, this time in Tampa, FL.

25 year old India Clarke's body was found after the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department received a phone call at 9 AM EDT this morning from an employee at the University Area Community Center located at 14013 N. 22nd Street.   The employee reported that a deceased body was lying next to the basketball courts.

Clarke was last seen alive by her parents at their home on Sunday and as usual, the local media violated the AP standards for respectfully covering trans people by misgendered her.   Eric Glasser of WTSP-TV took his disrespectful reporting a step further by not only misgendering India, but putting  her chosen name in quotation marks, and aggravatingly injecting an old arrest.into this story.

Do you media peeps do that crap to white women and white people in general who are murdered?  I doubt it.  So why do you media peeps continue to racistly disrespect the lives of Black trans people by doing that BS?

If you live in the Tampa area, please pass along any updates concerning this case, arrest of suspects or pending funeral arrangements so I can post them on the blog.

India is now the tenth trans woman murdered in 2015, and what is pissing me off is that once again, the murdered trans person in question not only shares my ethnic background, but is under 30..

Once again I ask the question of my African-American cis brothers and sisters?  When will #BlackTransLivesMatter?   When will your trans brothers and sisters see ministers and politicians decry the loss of these lives as loudly as you do for cisgender Black people?

Detectives are asking for anyone with any information to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 813-247-8200.

My condolences to your family and friends who loved you.  Rest in power and peace, India.

TransGriot Update: A candlelight vigil in Clarke's memory is planned for Friday, 8 PM EDT at Lykes Gaslight Square in Tampa.

TTNS 2015 Rapidly Approaching

The Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit is rapidly approaching, and this year will  be coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the first time.

The 7th annual edition of this event will take place July 31-August 1 on the UT-Dallas campus in Richardson, TX .

Ever since the first event happened on the University of Houston campus back in 2009, the TTNS has been pushing for trans inclusive policies in Texas school districts, colleges and universities. 

It's no accident that ever since the first TTNS event was conducted,  the number of school districts and Texas based colleges and universities with those policies in place has steadily increased, and the training being done at the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit has played a role in it.

And ever since I moved back home in May 2010, I haven't missed one.

In addition to the seminar blocks, this year's keynote speakers will be Dr. Stephen Sutton, Ph.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor University of California at Berkley and Heather Snow, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at The University of Texas at Arlington.

If you're in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, in easy flying or driving distance or just wish to attend the event, the TTNS staff, volunteers and their UT-Dallas hosts would love to have you there.   You can register for the event by clicking on this link

See y'all on the UT Dallas campus in a few weeks

Jordana Composing The ''Free Cece' Movie Soundtrack

You have heard me discuss Jordana LeSesne on this blog numerous times because I have much love for her, and you TransGriot readers have her to thank for me starting this blog.

She got me to commit to that January 1, 2006 start date for TransGriot, and stayed on my behind until I put up that first post on that date at midnight EST.

And the rest is history.

My musically talented little sis from another mother is a groundbreaking and amazing music producer that is on the comeback trail after breaking out in a major way in the 90's

Jordana is ramping up for a return to the music biz and has been tapped to create the music soundtrack for the upcoming Laverne Cox produced documentary movie Free CeCe that is in the crowdfunding stage.

Congrats Jordana!  can't wait to not only see that movie but hear the awesome soundtrack you're going to put together for it.  Also looking  forward to seeing what else is on the horizon for you.

Ben Hall Still Hatin' On Trans Houstonians Y'all

"..It was unacceptable for transgendered people who are “anatomically another gender” to be treated as anything but the anatomical gender.
--Ben hall, KUHF-FM  Houston Matters interview, October 28, 2013

With our mayoral election just a mere four months away, the campaign to replace our term limited mayor Annise Parker will be heating up soon as we get inexorably closer to the traditional Labor Day start for Houston civic election campaigns.

Out of all the candidates running for mayor in 2015, the one I have the most disdain for is Benjamin Lewis Hall, our former city attorney who spent $3 million dollars of his own money getting thumped by Mayor Parker by double digits in the 2013 mayoral race.

Hey, as I've said before, I don't have to like or respect people who are trying to oppress me..

He not only said to my face in an October 2013 mayoral town hall that he wasn't in favor of HERO, but if he had been elected, would have repealed the executive orders of Mayors Brown and Parker that protected Houston LGBT people in city employment.  He also doubled down on the BTLG hate in the last two weeks of that 2013 campaign.

As to whether he has changed his mind on HERO or the human rights of trans Houstonians,, the answer to that question is an emphatic NO.   He made it clear at a recent Harris County Democratic Party Brown Bag luncheon I attended that he hasn't evolved on either of those issues

A recent check of the signatures of Dave Wilson's second failed effort to enshrine anti-trans bigotry in the Houston City Charter by a team of Houston GLBT citizens and allies revealed an interesting name that popped up:   Ben Hall.

So Houston trans peeps and allies, if you were thinking about voting for this man as our next mayor, don't.

Find someone else to cast your precious vote for on November 3, because it is quite clear Hall is a trans oppressor who will if elected, throw my hard won human rights as a trans Houstonian away to curry favor with faux faith based bigots like the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity and professional gaybaiters like Steve Hotze who don't even live in this city.

There is also little doubt by his signature on that transphobic petition and behavior pattern dating back to 2013 that Ben Hall's vision of this city doesn't include transgender Houstonians like me.

Who Knew Playing The Dozens Would Help Me In My Activist Life?

In the wake of Zoey Tur allowing herself to get baited by conservafool Ben Shapiro into losing her cool on national television, it underscored a few things that we were concerned about in Trans World.

She had already shown this propensity to be hardheaded and not listen to folks who had been in these trans human rights wars decades before she transitioned.   She'd also shown a problematic tendency in intracommunity conversations to be hotheaded, which burned her in that disastrous TLC interview last Thursday.

As I have pondered what happened,  I thought about the fact that our community would have been better served by someone with a cooler head in that situation.

But that's a subject for another time and post, and I'm going to move on to the main topic of this one..

People have asked me how I stay calm in the face of situations like that or in last year's HERO battle.  Last year as we fought to pass that much needed Houston human rights ordinance, we faced hours of unrelenting insults by our right wing opponents trying to get a rise out of us that they could seize on to bash us over the head with later..

It's a skill that believe it or not, I learned in my childhood when I used to play the dozens with my friends.

What's the dozens you ask?  It's a game in which you and an opponent square off and hurl insults at each other with two goals in mind.  Goal number one is to make everyone watching the battle of wits laugh at the insults you are hurling at your opponent.   The second goal is to make your opponent lose their cool.



You win the game when either that losing their cool by your opponent happens, you are judged by the people watching to have landed the more humorous verbal jabs or y'all keep throwing barbs at each other, no one loses it, and both of you end it and just go on your merry way.

But little did I realize at the time that playing the dozens in my teen years would have real world applications in my adult life.   Playing the dozens taught me how to think fast on my feet, which is an invaluable quality to have when you are lobbying, doing a media interview, in a tense customer service situation, combating the Ignorati or writing a blog.

And as two faith based haters found out in Houston city council chambers last year when they crossed my path, it also taught me how to quickly come up with humorous insults that would cut to the bone, as when I called them 'Bible-thumping Barbies' or shut down an HRC lobbyist who stepped to me the wrong way at the 2000 National Transgender Policy Meeting.

Hey, as I've said more than a few times, I don't have to be nice to or respect people who wish to oppress me.

It also taught me how to even if I'm pissed about something you said, I don't let you see it, and stay focused on the task at hand.   Depending on the situation, I can either coolly come back with factoids to rebut your erroneous statements in a lobbying setting, or strike back hard with a rapid fire verbal volley of my own capable of making you lose your cool for the world to see.

But who knew that playing the dozens would have real world applications, and become an invaluable tool in my activist toolbox?

NIkki Araguz Loyd Eviscerates Dave Welch In Local News Debate

Y'all know I love my sis Nikki Araguz Loyd,  who is a kick butt activist in her own right fighting a now five year long battle to have recognition of her marriage to her late husband Thomas Araguz III restored.

The case is now at the Texas Supreme Court level, and in like of the Oberkfell SCOTUS ruling legalizing same sex marriage, it remains to be seen how this will  affect Nikki's still pending case.

Nikki was on FOX 26 last night not to talk about her pending marriage case, but to tangle with Dave Welch in a segment moderated by FOX 26's Isiah Carey.  

Dave Welch is a longtime hater and professional gaybaiter who before heading the Houston Area Pastoral Council, the predominately white right wing group of haters that Max Miller and his Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity cooned it up for in last year's HERO fight, worked for Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition in Washington DC.

He's been back in Texas attempting to spread his special brand of hate with the aid of sellout non-white preachers like Miller and friends.

Note to Zoey Tur, this is how you deal with a right wing hater.

Here's the link to the FOX26 webpage if you can't see the video..

Welch is probably tired of getting his azz kicked when he tangles with Houston trans women.  First Cristan took him down to the point where he refuses to debate her any more, then moi, and now Nikki have made him look bad on local TV.

But hey, the existence of trans people is not up for debate, and neither is whether or not as Houstonians, Texans and Americans we should have human rights protection.

Anybody like Welch who thinks their religious beliefs and praying to Conservagod trumps human rights  is our enemy, and doesn't deserve our pity or respect.

How A Black Trans Woman Ended Up In Jail Because Of An Iowa Transphobe

When 22 year old cosmetology student Meagan Taylor and a trans feminine girlfriend traveled to Des Moines, IA from Illinois for a visit, they were only planning to stay a few days in the city before returning home.when they checked into the Drury Inn in West De Moines.  

Unfortunately transphobic hotel staff and racist assumptions about them would combine to make this visit to Iowa a less than pleasant one.

Taylor and her friend noticed that the staff was in their words 'acting funny towards them' when they checked in.

That 'acting funny' was the transphobia the hotel staff was expressing, and several hours later it manifested itself into the police arriving at their hotel room door after being called by the staff about 'two males possibly engaged in prostitution activity.'

When the police officer arrived to begin the investigation, he found no prostitution activity occurring.   But a search of Taylor's purse led to the discovery of the spironolactone she was taking as part of her hormone regimen in an unmarked bottle, and she was arrested and charged with possession of prescription drugs without a prescription.  

She is also being head-scratchingly charged with  'malicious prosecution', which is an aggravated misdemeanor and Taylor’s bond was set at $2,000.

A subsequent check revealed that Taylor had an outstanding Illinois warrant for a probation violation stemming from a previous 2010 credit card fraud conviction that occurred when she was 17.  She had served time for it, but still owed $500 in fees.

She was taken to a Polk County jail that has no policy for housing trans prisoners, and since she was pre-op, they used a female officer to search the top half of the patdown search and a male office for the  bottom.

Because Polk County officials don't feel comfortable housing her with women, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) still is unclear about where trans feminine prisoners should be housed (it definitely ain't with the cis men) she's being stuck in isolation in the medical unit.   She told the Des Moines Register in an interview that if she were from Polk County, she could have paid 10 percent of her $2000 bond and been released.

But because Taylor is from out of state, she would need someone in Polk County to co-sign.  She doesn’t have a lawyer and doesn't have a court date set until August 25..

So because a transphobic Drury Inn hotel employee racially profiled two Black trans women who were minding their own damned business, Meagan Taylor is stuck in an Iowa jail at least until August 25,  or until she gets some help from the local LGBT community

TransGriot Update,  Since I wrote this post, crowdfunding has started to raise the money to not only pay for bail in Iowa, but the $500 she still owes in Illinois.  Also been advised that an attorney has stepped up to represent Meagan.

There is also a protest being organized that will take place in front of the West Des Moines, IA Drury Inn where this mess started.

I'm Happy With The Person I See In The Mirror...

And I don't give a rat's anus what you peeps wallowing in unrealistic beauty standards or not doing the human rights work think.

A few days ago I received a congratulatory phone call from a friend who had read the press release from Fantasia Fair about moi being named this year's winner of the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award.    I'm the first African American trans person to receive it, even though in my mind there were some folks like Miss Major and a few others in our chocolate trans ranks who could have and probably should have gotten that distinction before me.

But I'm the one they chose, and I'll be heading up there in October to collect it.

The friend then told me he was bothered about chatter from some local Black trans women he was hearing who were criticizing me for in their words, 'not being passable enough' to be a high profile rep for them.

Seriously?   Obviously the guy who whistled at me when I walked by him last week has a dissenting opinion.

I started my physical body morphing 21 years ago in the middle of IAH's Terminal C.  It has taken me a while to get comfortable with my statuesque body, and like every woman cis or trans, I still have my issues I have to work through.   What I have is what I was blessed with through the magic of hormones, and I did my body morphing without using silicone or plastic surgery.

Ever since that April 4, 1994 day I nervously clocked in at worked and headed to my gates to be gawked at by all the peeps who were either traveling on my flights or were fellow employees taking me up on my offer to have one on one conversations about why I was transitioning, I've done so pretty much in the public eye.   I also did so at  a time when there were few out Black trans people or out  Black trans activists.

So for you peeps who want to throw shade, let me ask you a few questions?   Where the hell were y'all last year when we needed peeps to talk to Houston City Council about passing HERO?

Where were you during the last legislative session when it was time to stand up, go to Austin and fight to keep four anti-trans bills from becoming law?

Where were you in 2011 when we needed people to tell their stories at HISD headquarters when they were contemplating and eventually passed trans inclusive policies in the employment and anti-bullying areas? 

And where were y'all when your Black trans brothers and trans sisters from around the world were having an amazing weekend building community as we gathered in Dallas for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference?

I know where I was.   I was also there to chew on the HISD school board's behinds when our Black neighborhood schools were under attack.   I was at City Hall to speak at a Trayvon Martin rally.   I was making my fifth trip to the White House in March for a Black trans policy briefing.

I sit on the boards of two trans oriented organizations, and receive regular invitations to speak to college campuses, organizations and conferences across the country about trans issues.  I have also gotten to meet some amazing people inside and outside the community along the way.

I was also blessed with writing skills to pay my bills.   I get to write about life as a Black trans person on a 9.5 year old award winning blog,  have 6 million readers eagerly surf to it to read what I have to say, 7600 followers (and counting) on Twitter, and almost 2500 people on my Facebook page..


So hate on, haters.   Nice to know that you are spending a part of your day thinking about me enough to the point where you are talking about me behind my back

But while you are busy throwing shade at me. you're not doing much else to help advance the human rights of the trans community or working to increase education and acceptance of our lives in the Black community.

I am, and have been doing so since 1998.  My human rights colleagues around the planet, the people that I have helped, and the people who are my friends DO appreciate what I have done on their behalf, and tell me so on a regular basis.

While  my life isn't perfect and there is always room for improvement on a few levels, for the most part I'm happy with where it is right now.  I'm also happy with the person staring back at me in the mirror, and that's all that matters..

It also tells me I'm doing my human rights work correctly if I have haters, and I'll be sure to continue doing what I need to do to advance the human rights of our community while y'all suck your teeth and roll your eyes.

Happy 80th Birthday Diahann Carroll!

Today is the 80th birthday of trailblazing singer and iconic Broadway and television actress Diahann Carroll, who was born on this date in New York City in 1935.

She appeared in Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959) two of the first major studio films to feature predominately African-American casts. 


As the star of Julia, in 1968 she became the first Black woman to star in a network television series in a non-stereotypical role.  She played Dominique Deveraux on Dynasty and Marion Gilbert on A Different World.

She has been nominated for numerous awards in her career that has spanned six decades including a groundbreaking Tony Award win in 1962 , a 1968 Golden Globe win for Julia and a 1974 Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Claudine. 

In 2011 she was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

I have much love for Ms. Carroll as one of my style role models, a timeless beauty and a trailblazing actress.

Happy milestone birthday!

Rest In Power Juan Evans

Was shacked and saddened to hear the news that Atlanta based trans masculine activist Juan Evans has joined the ancestors at age 42 after suffering from as yet undetermined health issues for the last few days.

Evans was active in groups such as Blue House Family, the Solutions Not Punishment Coalition, Women on the Rise and the Racial Justice Action Center, according to Project Q Atlanta.

He was also active in Unity Fellowship Church, Greater Atlanta.

Evans died on Tuesday at Emory University Hospital Midtown and a cause of death has yet to be determined according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner.  Funds are being raised to help defray medical and funeral costs at this time.

The news was greeted with shock and sadness by the ATL activist community, who praised him as a fierce human rights advocate.  In addition to the legions of friends and colleagues mourning his loss, he leaves behind his wife Jacqueline Evans.

For those of you in the ATL who wish to pay your last respects to Juan, the funeral will be held tomorrow at  11 AM EDT at Virginia Highland Community Church.  Address is 743 Virginia Ave. NE, in Atlanta, GA 30306

Rest in peace and power, Brother Juan.    You will be missed.  

743 Virginia Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306

743 Virginia Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306.

Shut Up Fool Awards-Dropping Da Bomb On Ignorance Edition

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico that proved the first atom bomb design worked.  

Several weeks later om August 6 'Little Boy' was dropped on Hiroshima and 'Fat Man' was dropped on Nagasaki three days later   Those bombs ended World War II in the Pacific theater.

The also led to a series of nuke tests in the late 40s and 50's as the military sought to learn the effects of The Bomb in various situations until above ground and atmospheric testing was stopped due to the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.

Now that we've gotten the min-history lesson out of the way, time to do what we do on Fridays and drop the bomb on ignorance.   It's time for this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

Honorable mention number one is a group award to all the fools waving the Confederate flag when President Obama visited the state on Monday.   Thank you for doing us all a favor and letting us and your neighbors know you are ignorant racist bigots.

Honorable mention number two goes to Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin (R) who demonstrated for the whole world her lack of basic civics and government knowledge when she couldn't even name her own branch of government .

Honorable mention number three is Texas governor (yuck) Greg Abbott (R) who instead of calling out the loons in his party, doubled down on it and deployed the Texas State Guard to 'guard against a military takeover of Texas by the feds' as the Jade Helm military exercise gets underway.

Is it 2018 yet?

Honorable mention number four is the Greater Mount Moriah Primitive Baptist Church in Tampa, FL, who sent a $1000 collection letter to a single mother with kids to collect tithes and fees they claim she owes in order to remain a member in good standing on church matters..

WTF?  I'm so sick of these wannabe Rev. Ike pastors

Honorable mention number five is  James David Manning of the ATLAH hate church in New York who is ranting about 'sodomite demons'.


.
Miss Thang, just come out of the closet,  go on a date with Donnie McClurkin, get your freak on and leave us in reality based world the hell alone.   You spend more time obsessing about gay sex than any out gay man I have ever known.

Honorable mention number six is Tony Perkins, who hated on the news that in the next six months American  transpeople will get to openly serve our country.

Well Tony, it may be news to you, but 15,000 trans people are already serving our country.  Why can't patriotic US trans people do the same thing that trans people in 16 nations can do and have done for over a decade in some cases?


This  week's Shut Up Fool winner is Airway Heights, WA mayor Patrick Rushing.

He must be a Republican, because the bigot went to that beyond tired conflation of the POTUS and FLOTUS to simians in a post on his Facebook page..

While he gave a  (as usual) halfazzed non apology apology, the Airway Heights City Council wasn't impressed and asked for his resignation.   He also defiantly said according yo KHQ-TV he wasn't resigning from the mayor's chair because to do so would be an admission :'that he is a racist.'

Well duh, if the pointed hood fits, you're a racist shyt.   You need to have several seats at Century Link Field.    But you probably won't do that until after your next monthly cross burning.

And FYI for you Patrick, gorillas also can look like this one.

Patrick Rushing, shut up racist fool

Netroots Nation 2015 Starts Today!

The 2015 edition of Netroots Nation starts today and it is coming to you from Phoenix, AZ. starting today until July 19.   And nope, I won't be there to cover all the exciting things that are going to transpire at the Phoenix Convention Center and the various hotels.

As badly as I would have liked to have been there, just didn't work out for me to be able to come for the first time since the 2012 event in Providence, RI.

But like every one else that couldn't go for various reasons, I'll check out the #NN15 hashtag on Twitter to see what people are saying about the largest progressive conference in the country. 

There's also the Netroots Nation website in which I and others who couldn't be there in person this year will be able to check out some of the seminars and speeches being webcast.

For those of you who did make it to Phoenix or are headed that way, y'all have fun, get your learn on and I hopefully see y'all at Netroots Nation 2016 in a locale to be determined later.

President Obama's 2015 NAACP Convention Speech

While the Latino community leaders were gathering in Kansas City for the National Council of La Raza Convention, at the same time in Philadelphia the NAACP was meeting July 11-15 for its 106th national convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

And yep NCLR Conference delegates, as you and I suspected, there were no sightings of GOP presidential candidates at the NAACP convention either.

One of the speakers for that just concluded convention in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection was none other than President Barack Obama.

He spoke to the assembled delegates on Tuesday, and here's the text and the video of his speech.

Caitlyn Jenner's ESPY Speech

Well, no matter where you stood on the issue pro or con, the bottom line is that ESPN chose her to receive this year's Arthur Ashe Courage Award. 

As to where I stood, it's on the pro side.   I appreciated the fact that it's the first time a trans person has received an ESPY of any kind.   I don't doubt because of all the interest and controversy leading up to this speech, will probably be far more folks tuning in to hear it than the total number of people that have ever surfed to read posts on my blog in its 9.5 years of operation.

So don't hate.  Appreciate the fact that we have a girl like us in Caitlyn who is sincere about being an advocate doing good in the community, is an experienced public speaker, and she's wanting to 'ejumacate' some peeps about our lives inside and outside that Microsoft Theater and do some good for trans kind.

And here is Caitlyn's acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Focus On November 2015, Not November 2016!

We have a high stakes presidential election coming up, and political junkies and people who pay attention to the issues are aware that will be a critical one for the direction of our country since President Obama will leave office on January 20, 2017.

There is also the possibility that President Obama could be succeeded by our first ever female presidents, or one of the sixteen members (and counting) GOP clown bus of a nomination process.

But as much as the media and others in our community want to look ahead, dream about whether Hillary Clinton will get the Democratic nomination, subsequently win that election and be inaugurated as our first female president, we pray that Donald Chump Trump remains the Republican front runner into the New Year or ponder the various scenarios that may or may not happen in that 2016 presidential contest, it's time for a dose of  reality.

While I'm also cognizant of the big picture elements surrounding the 2016 election cycle, the Iowa caucuses don't happen until February 1.   There still hasn't been a single vote cast in a 2016 presidential primary election contest in either party yet, and voters won't get a chance to do that until February 9 in New Hampshire.  

We are still in the summer of 2015 and have a more important election date looming that requires our undivided attention now.   That date is November 3, 2015.  

What's that date you ask?   That's the date the Houston city elections will take place, and if you are a TBLGQ denizen of H-town or a liberal progressive ally, we need to be laser beam focused on handing our looming electoral business. 

We will (sniff sniff) have to choose Mayor Annise Parker's successor because she's term limited.    We have several councilmembers in the same situation, and it'll be up to us to determine who the best candidates are to sit in those nice leather chairs.  

While HERO is being implemented, it's still being fought in the courts and the next mayor will determine how vigorously to defend it. You can bet HERO haters like Steven Hotze, the Baptist Ministers Assn. of Houston and Vicinity and others will be writing checks big and small to candidates they will hold to a pledge of gutting our civic human rights ordinance as a condition for their fiscal support.

And besides HERO, there are other civic issues we need to be thinking about.  Transit is one for example.  What do we need to do to keep traffic moving?  Will we continue to invest in rail and expand it to the airports?  Will we finally get some commuter rail lines built?  

You do know the mayor selects five members of the METRO transit authority board that will make those decisions.   

What's the optimum funding level for the Houston police and fire departments?  What will we do to promoting our city as a wonderful diverse place to live, work and play.while ensuring all Houstonians benefit from a booming economy?   Will we step up our efforts to get high profile sports events here and try to bid for an Olympic Games? What can we do to promote the building of affordable housing inside and outside Loop 610?

All these issues are bi, trans and SGL issues since we live in H-town, too.

So forget about November 8, 2016.  We have an upcoming election that matters in just four months

While this post is Houston specific, I would bet there are other locales around the country that have elections scheduled on that date as well.   We need to be focused on getting people to show up and show out on November 3, because our opponents will definitely be busy getting their base out.

Focus people on November 2015, and forget November 2016 for the next four months.

Three Must See Trans TV Events!

Wednesday is going to be an interesting day of television in that you have three shows being broadcast that will be broadcast that feature well known transpeople on them.

First up will be Isis King spending the next few days (Wednesday-Friday) on The Bold and the Beautiful playing Sonya, a friend of Maya Avant's who will also be featured in a fashion show that is being headlined by Maya.

If you're asking who's Maya Avant, she's a major character in the B&B universe that was recently revealed to be trans and is played by Karla Mosley.

Carmen Carrera will also pop up in one of the fashion show episodes as well.

Looking forward to seeing Isis on The Bold and the Beautiful, and I hope they make the Sonya character a recurring role for her.

The ESPY Awards are also on later tonight starting at 7 PM CDT, and they will feature Caitlyn Jenner receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. 

There has been some criticism of ESPN for giving the award to the recently out as trans Jenner, with Bob Costas questioning their motivation for doing so.  

But as I've told people who have asked for my opinion about it, it's ESPN's call on who gets that award, and anything that humanizes us and shows a transperson doing something positive is a good thing for the community at large.

I'll also be interested in seeing Ms. Jenner, seeing the crowd reaction in the hall from her sporting peers to it and hearing what she has to say about it during her acceptance speech for it.

Then at 9 PM CDT is the long awaited debut of I Am Jazz on TLC.

The reality show features our fave transteen Jazz Jennings and her family as the cameras follow her now 14 year old self as she navigates the world around her.

Jazz is one of the sweetest people you'll ever want to meet along with her mom Jeanette, and I've been looking forward to the debut of this show ever since it was announced that it was going to happen.. I believe once America gets to see the amazing Jennings family onscreen they'll fall in love with Jazz and them.  

So if you can't watch any of those shows, you may wish to set your DVD's and check them out later.


TransGriot Note:  In the interest of journalistic integrity, need to note that Isis and I both share as of yesterday the same celebrity publicist

And Still Serena Rises

One of the things I'm absolutely sick of along with other African-Americans is the racist hatred and trans misogyny that flows from the mouths of vanillacentric privileged white peeps mad that their European tennis glamazons weren't up to the task (again) of beating the world's number one ranked tennis player in Serena Jameka Williams.

It's not a new problem.  I've written about it previously, but it still pisses me off to see it.

Serena earned that sixth title, going through a three set match with Victoria Azarenka in the quarters, beating down Maria Sharapova for the (ho hum) 17th straight time since 2004 in the semis and taking out a tough Garbine Muguruza to claim that 'Williams'-don crown and the Serena Slam

But y'all still hate on her.

I'm tired of this ongoing pattern of successful Black female athletes like Serena Williams having their femininity attacked because they excel at what they do.  It is part of the same four century old racist pattern of whiteness and white supremacy demonizing Black women and Black womanhood in general.

If Serena Williams had the same number 34 ranking as Sloane Stephens and the same number of Grand Slam titles won (zero) instead of being the World Number 1 ranked player with 21 Career Grand Slams (and counting), white folks wouldn't be saying jack about Serena.


Neither would they be saying anything if she were mixed race like 18th ranked Madison Keys trying to downplay the fact she has a Black father. Then again Keys, like Stephens hasn't won a Grand Slam either.   Keys was vanquished by Serena in straight sets in the 2015 Australia Open semis.

Serena clearly being the best women's tennis player on the planet, repeatedly kicking European tennis glamazon azz, staking her increasingly unassailable claim to being the greatest tennis player of all time while being unapologetically Black and a curvy dark skinned Black woman who got back in a sport with predominately white players is clearly setting some people free and has since 1999.

And I'm enjoying every nanosecond of Serena's tennis superiority as the vanillacentric privileged haters try to find a reason to not give her credit for her decade of dominance. . 

I didn't appreciate the problematic July 10 New York Times tennis body image article by Ben Rothenberg that insinuated in thinly racist tones that Serena's was the body the glamazons didn't want to have. 

Well, Serena's happy with it, Black women are happy with it, her fans and supporters are happy with her fine brown frame, and so am I

As one person who slammed the article on Twitter remarked about the description of Serena as 'animal-like said and I concur with that,“This black people as ‘beast’ thing needs to go down with the #ConfederateFlag.”

Even David Frum's tired behind tried to shadily slime her by throwing out the steroid accusation before retracting after getting called out about it.

FYI dog, since tennis is an Olympic sport, it uses the same IOC drug screening protocol.to the point that during last month's French Open, Serena was playing and beating all comers at Roland Garros while suffering from a cold.

David, ask the former East Germans or Shirley Babashoff what women on steroids look and sound like before you have several seats and some strawberries and cream flavored Haterade.

And still Serena rises.  And y'all hate it.

See y'all in New York at the US Open.

Upcoming 2015 Aqui Estamos RGV POC Queer Conference

The state of Texas is bigger than France in size, and that can make it difficult to organize statewide or when we have BTLGQ lobby days in Austin.   The sheer size of the state for example makes it hard for someone in the Panhandle, West Texas, Northeast Texas, East Texas or the El Paso area to come to lobby, even if they fly to Austin, without planning on taking at least two days minimum for travel the day of and the day after the event. 

Because our Texas TBLGQ communities are also clustered in the state's larger cites like Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, the statewide conferences tend to be held in those cities as well, with the same applicable travel issues.

The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas is predominately Latino and for the most part liberal progressive, but it's still about a four hour one way drive from the Valley's major cities of Harlingen, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo to our state capitol of Austin.  |But the Valley, just like everywhere else in the Lone Star State, has TBLGQ Latinos living there as well.

And with Latinos being the fastest growing ethnic group in Texas, they will be part of an increasingly powerful voting bloc.  The Latino population in Texas is estimated to eclipse white Texans and become the largest ethnic group in the state next year and nationally by 2040.

Thanks to Lou Weaver, I was alerted to an upcoming conference, the Aqui Estamos RGV Conference that will be taking place at the STC Cooper Center in McAllen from August 6-7.

It's the first ever LGBTQ centered conference to take place in the Rio Grande Valley, and it seeks to bring together queer-identifying people of color and allies to identify the institutional, social, and cultural currents and themes that continue to oppress queer and gender nonconforming identities in our borderland.

The goal of Aquí Estamos RGV is to strive to challenge those currents and themes by creating a visible and unified movement where LGBTQ people can stand in solidarity for justice.

As the first LGBTQ centered conference in the Rio Grande Valley, Aquí Estamos RGV 2015 will focus on visibility, strategizing, and community and is also open to allies . If you need further details about this first ever event , visit aquiestamosrgv.org.    The conference also has its own Twitter hashtag, #aquiestamos15

If you wish to attend, the conference is FREE, but you'll need to RSVP for it by July 20.

Dave Wilson Fails Again To Get Trans Hatred Enshrined In The Houston City Charter

As many of you are aware of, last year after a bitter fight we got the trans inclusive Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed after an 11-6 vote.  

The local professional gaybaiters and their kneegrow sellouts promptly went to work collecting petitions to force a HERO repeal referendum.

But they FUBARed the process so badly that the city rejected the petitions, and the spoiled vanillacentric privileged right-wing brats and their kneegrow auxiliaries tried to sue in state court and force the HERO referendum that way.  After losing in state court in April, HERO went into effect.

Meanwhile, longtime hater Dave "I Pretended I Was Black To Get Elected" Wilson was trying another tactic to bring down HERO.   Wilson went to work to collect enough petitions to force a vote to add language to the city charter that attacks the Houston trans community

But Dave forgot that you need 20,000 signatures for a charter amendment petition, and claimed he collected 19,700 signatures.   However, that was short of the 20K threshold, and his petition was denied.

Dave tried again, and took another batch of signatures to City Hall in an attempt to get his transphobic charter amendment on the November ballot, and was once again rebuffed by the city of Houston.  He's now trying to sue, and we'll stay tuned to see if this goes anywhere.

But the end result is that for now, the trans inclusive HERO ordinance is in effect, and transphobic bigots like Dave Wilson and friends provide ample evidence of why it is necessary.

They have yet to get the message that discrimination's time in Houston has expired.

And Houston peeps, can we look into the possibility of kicking Wilson's butt off the HCC board for violating its nondiscrimination policy?

Moni Teams With Celebrity Publicist!

It's been in the works for a few months, but I can now make the announcement official. 

I am now being represented by TLH Public Relations and Consulting, LLP!

The full service public relations firm founded by celebrity publicist Leigha Hagood with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC. The firm represents clients in the theatrical, sports, political and public speaking worlds.

They were enthusiastic about taking me on as a client and I have been wanting to do more public speaking appearances.

I believe they can get me to the level that I need and deserve to be at as a trans human rights pioneer and long time activist..

TLH Public Relations and Consulting, LLP will be handling my speaking requests from now on so I can focus on my writing and activist work when needed.

If you are interested in having me appear as speaker for your event, you can contact Leigha at 646-893-4337 or leigha@tlhpr.com